At least 1,375 people killed by violence in January, says UN Iraq Mission

This child was among thousands of Iraqis who fled to the high-altitude region of northern Kurdistan during the winter of 2014 with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and found themselves entirely dependent on humanitarian agencies. Photo: OCHA/Iason Athanasiadis

2 February 2015  Violence in Iraq killed a total of at least 1,375 people last month, according to figures released today by the United Nations Mission (UNAMI) in the country, with the majority of those killed civilians.

At least 790 of those killed were civilians, including 59 civilian police, with a further 1,469 civilians injured, including 69 civilian police. The Iraqi military lost 585 soldiers in the time period, with another 771 injured.

Last year was the country’s deadliest since the 2006-2007 biennium, with a total of 12,282 Iraqis killed and another 23,126 injured, as militants associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) conducted an ongoing offensive against the Government.

The UN Mission reported that the worst affected Governorate was Baghdad, where 256 people were killed and 758 were injured. Elsewhere, 114 were reported killed and 49 injured in Diyala, with 100 killed and 52 injured in Salahuddin. In Ninewa, 85 civilians were killed and 12 injured, and in Kirkuk, 14 were killed and 6 injured.

In general, UNAMI says, it is hindered in effectively verifying casualties in conflict areas and its figures for casualties from Anbar Governorate are provided by the Health Directorate in that Governorate. Their figures state that 195 civilians were killed in Anbar, with another 584 injured.

Often, the Mission is able only to partially verify certain incidents. In addition to the figures quoted, it has received, without being able to verify, reports of large numbers of casualties along with unknown numbers of persons who have died from secondary effects of violence after having fled their homes due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care. As such, the figures presented are considered to be the absolute minimum.